Good evening ITD’ers.
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Just a quick Go Blueeeee before I head off to practice!!!!
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I wish I could stay on longer but I’ve got “Practice” tonight. I mean we’re talking about “Practice” here! Can you believe that I’m posting on ITD about “Practice”? Really… “Practice”!
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Okay enough of that…
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But later I’ll be back with some things to say about last night. It was a fun but tough night. Sort of an old school night for me (Nothing compared to what Joe P. has probably experienced!). But going back to Candlestick (AKA “The Toilet Bowl”) days.
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I hope everybody is well!
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Nelly I hope the day was great!!
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Go Bills!!!
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Go Blue!!!!
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Bring the Ring to LA in 2009!!!!!
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Beat the Midgets!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!!!! Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I had a fabulous day, and it will be even better if the Dodgers will just win this game. Seriously, from my own family to my class and to everyone on ITD and FB, it has been a great day, whether the Dodgers win or lose. This ITD family is something else, and I am still amazed at times how we genuinely care about each other, even with our differences of opinion at times. The Dodgers are very lucky to have such devoted fans like those of us here on ITD.

bluecrewgirl – That is just great about Andre. This is just so opposite from what he (and the fans) had to put up with last year. I guess in his case as the saying “all good things happen to those who wait” applies to him because boy!, has he had to wait.

I’m back just in time to hear Broxton come in & start walking people.
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We sure do miss Beimel in these situations where Brox was brought in. Beimel would of been brought in to try to induce a ground ball DP facing the left handed hitter Ishikawa.
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Why oh why is Russ batting #4? When I saw the lineup I was not happy with seeing that.

But I’m not one to complain about what we don’t have now that we are a month into the season, so I’ll let it alone.
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Nelly as a long time Dodger fan that goes to many Giants games in SF, I enjoy the “Beat LA” chant. The reason… they hate my team so much because we owned them forever and they wish they had what we’ve enjoyed.
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So when I hear that chant it brings a smile to my face!

Vin was saying while Andre was at bat that Matt had previous success against Howard, so I was hoping he would do something and he did. I’d still like another run or 2 to pad the lead going into the bottom of the 9th.

Brox came in to face Ishikawa (.224) and Uribe (.227) and Aurilia (.200). Three ball counts to all, walking two of them. Can anyone tell me why he wouldn’t challenge these three donkeys? Is Honeycutt telling him to treat them all like Luis Pujols? Truly pathetic.

Now Ohman is coming in to pitch the ninth but he wasn’t good enough to pitch the eighth? Torre is such an idiot.

Thanks for the feedback Shad. I know he has hit him well in the past but that is a small sample of at bats.
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& with the way Martin has been going I was surprised to see him @#4.
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I have thought of batting him in front of Manny as well but he really did poorly in that spot last year.

A LAUREL AND HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR BOYS IN BLUE!!! Three Cheers for KING JAMES and his 2 RBI. MANNY Raising his Average to .366. TERRIFIC outing by our NEW ACE BILLINGSLY!!! WILL “THE OMEN” with a save!!! ANDRE’S 2 RUNS AND GAME WINNING RBI!!! And of course all the other players on this GREAT DODGERS TEAM!!! – Batman Hudson, Captain Marty, HIT MAN Kemp, Ferk, and Blake. TRIUMPH WILL BE OURS IN 2009!!!

Eric I totally agree with you. That has been my complaint with Brox. He nibbles to much instead of going after guys and also overthrows and seldom changes speeds.
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I also thought Ohman was a better call in that 8th inning spot than Brox.
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I’m a Torre fan but I do think sometimes he makes decisions that don’t make sense.
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Watching Torre yesterday I was impressed with his professionalism and the way he dealt with the players, fans, and media. He was around the cage and talking with players and seemed like he was encouraging them and teaching them.
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I like Torre more today than yesterday.
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But I don’t get some of his decisions. Maybe some of those are why players seem to like to play for him.

It made sense to bring Broxton in. He is supposed to be the closer, meaning the go to guy when they are in a jam. He just pitched poorly tonight and cost Billingsly a win. Like I said in an earlier post and echoed by others, he was not challenging the batters but nibbling around the plate. Don’t blame Torre, he wasn’t the one with poor control tonight.

Okay as far as last night.
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I went to the stadium at around 1:00 to get some autographs.
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The 1st was Broxton. He didn’t say much but I’ve never gotten his autograph before so I was pumped.
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#2 was Everyday Dre. As usual he was really friendly with everybody and signed autographs for everybody and took pictures with people.
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I let him know we love him here and a group of us have been called Ethieraholics. He started laughing and said that means he better not leave LA or people might get upset. I let him know that we would all still be fans of his. & that we appreciate his hard work and attitude. That it showed us a lot.

I’m certainly thankful for the win, but that was an ugly game from BOTH team’s standpoints. Since I don’t give a crap about the Giant’s view………

Running Kemp earlier in the game (unless it was a hit-and-run, which it wasn’t) cost us a run. Molina is just too good to run on.

No way in the world Broxton gets this win. The official scorer needs to take it from him and give it to Ohman. It’s within his power.

Top of the lineup needs to get going. Oh for nine isn’t setting the table very well.

Torre needs to get his bullpen in order NOW, not in September. I thought Kuo looked OK in his last outing, despite giving up the HR. He was throwing strikes again and getting ahead in the count consistently. I haven’t seen him do that too much this year. Ohman is performing well and should be trusted.

It seemed like Brox was kind of slipping back into the mode of trying to make every pitch 100 mph tonight. Maybe he was too pumped up. I think he’s at his best when he has the slider working too and can mix it up.

Glad you had fun DCollins. That’s great you got to talk to Andre. I don’t think Brox is a man of many words. He seems really shy.

I ended up getting about 15 autographs total and so I was really happy about that.
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The score I wasn’t happy about.
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It was a fun night even though we lost.
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Martin seems like he was pressing and takes the game very seriously. He just doesn’t look happy.

Yes, absolutely Shad. Our hitting with runners in scoring position has been terrible lately. But I think that will come around though. Today’s ninth inning might have started something. Too bad Linsecum is going tomorrow.

Nelly, even though a lot of people in the media always make sure to say that Andre’s success has come batting in front of and behind Manny, and I’m not saying it hasn’t benefited him, I think the most impressive thing is that it doesn’t matter where he’s hitting in the lineup, he’s coming through with great at bats. He’s definitely coming of age like we all knew he would.

The at bat that Manny had last night against Veldez was a really fun at bat. It reminded me of the one with Gagne vs Bonds years ago.
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It was a great battle (Last night) and I’ll always remember it as I was sitting 7 rows behind the Dodgers on deck circle.

dc (and enchanted earlier), I think I get why Torre keeps batting Martin where he does, but he doesn’t seem to be responding. I think it’s time to put him where he belongs in this lineup anyway – eighth.

I’ve never seen Brox talk all that much. In Vero last year I’d ask him for an autograph as he’d walk by and he would mumble something and point across from where we were standing.
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I would agree that he is a quiet & shy guy. Interesting that he is in a spot in his career where he is on the center stage. Tough spot for someone quiet & shy.

I get it to Eric. He’s trying to get him better pitches to hit to get him going. But you are correct. It’s time to move him down. He isn’t even having good at bats. I don’t mind if he doesn’t always get a hit but he hasn’t had good at bats. He did better last night but was really bad tonight.
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If he gets going look out.

I had a post disappear. The blog is kind if jumpy tonight. Anyway, I agree with you both dodgereric and dcollins. I think it would help Russell to relax if he was moved down in the order. I am pretty sure it was when he was moved down in the order last season that he started to come around with the bat.

bluecrewGIRL and Junie, it just so happens that I ran a ton of stats during the winter regarding our guys hitting around Manny and this is what I found:

Manny just about split his Dodger at-bats in ’08 between the 3 (39 for 95 – .411) and 4 slots (35 for 92 – .380)

Dodgers in front of Manny in the 3 slot (47 for 109 – .431)
Led by Andre (34 for 80 – .425)
DeWitt was 4 for 9
Kemp was 1 for 4
Kent was 1 for 2
Martin was 4 for 6
Pierre was 3 for 8

Dodgers in front of Manny in the 4 slot (36 for 105 – .343)
Led by Kent (31 for 79 – .392)
Martin was 5 for 22
Garciaparra was 0 for 4

So hitting in front of Manny is a nice place, right? How about behind him?

Dodgers behind Manny in the 3 slot (25 for 106 – .236)
Either was 4 for 10
Kent was 2 for 10
Garciaparra was 1 for 4
Blake was 4 for 28 – .143
Loney was 14 for 54 – .259

Dodgers behind Manny in the 4 slot (27 for 100 – .200)
Led by Loney (22 for 70 – .314)
Kent was 1 for 8
Martin was 0 for 3
Garciaparra was 2 for 12
Blake was 2 for 7

Put ’em all together and the Dodgers in front of Manny in ’08 were 83 for 214 (.388) and 52 for 206 (.252) behind him.

Conclusion – only a 2 month sample, but Either probably isn’t benefitting from hitting behind Manny…… he’s just a damned good hitter in his own right. He needs to be hitting behind Manny to protect him. This should be our every day lineup, someone tell Torre:

Nelly the beat LA chant is okay. When they pull the “Dodgers S**K” chant I usually chant “Check the flags – Check the flags – Check the flags” and point to left center field where the NL west flags fly showing the Dodgers in 1st and Giants in 3rd or like during last year 4th.
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Oh and of course all the Giants fans were out of the woodwork today popping off about the game last night. Even though they were swept by us not to long ago.
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So I’ve informed a few people that I left them alone last year and thus far this year but now the gloves are off.

That’s very interesting, dodgereric. I would have thought the batting average for hitting in front of him would be higher than behind, but didn’t think it would be that far apart. Goodnight everyone. Great game tonight. Talk to you all later.

Good morning ITDland ~ loved reading all your post from last night. I actually got to watch the game on TV and didn’t want to leave it.
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Dodgereric ~ love your stats as always. And I agree with your batting order. Of course, that is why you are Manager!
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Dcollins ~ thank you for speaking for us Ethieraholics. Andre is such a nice guy and I want him to know as much as possible how we feel about him.
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BEAT SF…….BEAT SF……BEAT SF…….BEAT SF……BEAT SF !!!!!

Hey, Joe, a little backseat driving from the uninformed in ITD land. First off, Joe, you make me seasick with your ever-changing batting orders. Question to Joe and all us “old timers” out there: How often did Tommy change the batting order during the “glory years?” Answer (from what I remember??): VERY SELDOM. Lopes, Russell, Smith, Garvey, Cey, Baker, Monday, Yeager. Joe, I’ll give you kudos for keeping Hudson #2 when everyone wanted Ethier. But Ethier has shown he’s a stud, in front of or behind Manny. But Joe, Kemp went on record in Spring Training saying he didn’t care where you batted him, as long as you left him there. So Joe, why not stick with a set line-up for a while? Why do you get so freaking antsy with this match-up…or that match-up…or whatever side of the bed you get up on…or whatever your astrological forecast says…or whether you’ve see a groundhog or not? Furcal, Hudson, Manny, Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Blake, Martin. There. You can thank me later.

As for your incredible handling of the bullpen, you’re killing Broxton, and while at it, how can you even consider Wade as your 8th inning set-up man when he’s activated? He’s as brittle as Kuo. Not that you asked me, but I’d like to see a DURABLE veteran who throws strikes and has a little pop on the ball. Not much down there, huh? Thanks, Ned. But maybe, just maybe (a BIG maybe!!??!) a guy like Weaver. As I remember, Weaver’s problem was always the second and third time through a line-up. And don’t look now, but Weaver’s got 12 Ks in 12.2 innings down on the farm…and only 2 walks. I mean, heck, Broxton matched that in a third of an inning last night.

Anyway, Joe, thanks for listening. Keep up the good work. The Dodgers are tied for the best record in the National League–either because of you or in spite of you. Haven’t quite figured out which one yet…

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